Meeting the challenge Going forward together

Content Our vision for our future How effective we are as individuals How we work as a community How to work better

Our vision for the future of the University of Makeni Input by Mgr Daniel Kamara: Values Size Facilities Courses People Buildings Finances Research Publications Etc?

Exercise 1 - What skills do I have?

Exercise 2 - What are my strengths?

Human beings will never see things in exactly the same way, this is not the aim of work or life, instead the aim should be to understand each other's views far better, so that we can minimise conflict and maximise cooperation.

Working together Two issues: Task - the job that has to be done Building a classroom Designing a curriculum Process The way that group members work as a unit How they see their responsibilities How they react with each other

Working Group or Team? Working Group Defined membership Working on same overall task Team Defined membership Working on same overall task  Think of themselves as a group  Sense of shared purpose  Need to help each other to achieve purpose  Communicate, influence, react to each other  Review their effectiveness  Ability to act together, as one (What makes 11 football players a team?) Task Process

Why teams? Task + Process Team Synergy Enhanced results: - better than the sum of the individuals Good at combining talents: leads to innovative solutions More self managing Better motivation Better self esteem

Types of behaviour in teams Encourager Compromiser Leader Summariser/Clarifier Ideas person Evaluator Recorder

Exercise 4 - Teamworking skills This questionnaire should help you to analyse the workings of a group and should help you to reach some tentative conclusions about how you work in a team. For this exercise you will need to think of teams of which you are or were a part. These could be project groups for your work, seminar groups, sports teams, societies or clubs in which you were involved, vacation jobs in which you were part of a team. For each question the response can only be rarely, or sometimes, or frequently, or always. Try to answer all 28 questions as honestly as you can.

Rarelyscore 0 Sometimesscore 1 Frequentlyscore 2 Alwaysscore 3 Alfa Bravo Charlie Delta Echo Foxtrot Golf

Role types AEncourager BCompromiser CLeader DSummariser/Clarifier EIdeas person FEvaluator GRecorder

The roles people play in group meetings A - ENCOURAGER – Energises groups when motivation is low through humour or being enthusiastic. They are positive individuals who support and praise other group members. B - COMPROMISER – Tries to maintain harmony among the team members. They are sociable, interested in others and will introduce people, draw them out and make them feel comfortable. Able to recognise and resolve differences of opinion and the development of conflict, they enable "difficult" team- members to contribute positively. C - LEADER – Good leaders direct the sequence of steps the group take and keeps the group "on-track.". They are good at controlling people and events and coordinating resources. They have the energy, determination and initiative to overcome obstacles and bring competitive drive to the team. D - SUMMARISER/CLARIFIER – Calm, reflective individuals who summarise the group's discussion and conclusions. They clarify group objectives and elaborate on the ideas of others. They are good mediators and seek consensus.

The roles people play in group meetings - cont E - IDEAS PERSON – The ideas person suggests new ideas to solve group problems or new ways for the group to organize the task. They dislike orthodoxy and not too concerned with practicalities. They provide suggestions and proposals that are often original and radical. F - EVALUATOR – Evaluators help the group avoid coming to agreement too quickly. They tend to be slow in coming to a decision because of need to think things over. They are the logical, analytical, objective people in the team and offer measured, dispassionate critical analysis. G - RECORDER – The recorder keeps the group focused and organised. They make sure that everyone is helping with the project. They are usually the first person to offer to take notes to keep a record of ideas and decisions. They also like to act as time-keeper, to allocate times to specific tasks and remind the team to keep to them, or a spokesperson, to deliver the ideas and findings of the group.

Effective Teams Team roles ENCOURAGER COMPROMISER LEADER SUMMARISER/CLARIFIER IDEAS PERSON EVALUATOR RECORDER All roles valuable and necessary

Destructive or selfish group roles to avoid! ■ Autocrat: tries to dominate or constantly interrupt other members of the team. ■ Show Off: talks all the time and thinks they know all the answers. ■ Butterfly: keeps changing the topic before others are ready. ■ Aggressor: doesn't show respect to others, comments negatively about them. ■ Avoider: refuses to focus on the task or group relationship problems ■ Critic: always sees the negative side to any argument, but never suggests alternatives. Puts down the ideas of others. ■ Help seeker: looks for sympathy from others: victim ■ Clown: shows no involvement in group and engages in distracting communication.

Signs of ineffective teams ■ People talk more than they listen and only a few people may contribute. ■ Some members are silent and don't contribute. They may be indifferent, bored or afraid to contribute. ■ Members ideas are dismissed or even ridiculed and their views are ignored. ■ There are arguments between members of the group (as opposed to constructive differences of opinion). ■ One or two members dominate the others and make the decisions. ■ Disagreements are put to the vote without being discussed. ■ Some members are unhappy with decisions and grumble privately afterwards. ■ Little effort is made to keep to the point or to work to deadlines. ■ There is a lack of clarity regarding goals and specific tasks are not agreed. ■ Roles are not delegated to particular team members. ■ There is a lack of trust and helpfulness. ■ Members don't talk about how the group is working or the problems it faces.

Signs of effective teams: ■ Clear goals are agreed that everyone understands and is committed to. ■ Everyone understands the tasks they have to do and help each other. ■ It has a coordinator who may adopt a leadership style from autocratic to democratic depending on the circumstances. Different people may assume the role of leader for different tasks. ■ There is a balance between the task (what do we need to do?) and the process (how do we achieve this?) ■ There is a supportive, informal atmosphere where members feel able to take risks and say what they think ■ The group is comfortable with disagreement and can successfully overcome differences in opinion. ■ There is a lot of discussion in which everyone participates. Group members listen to each other and everyone's ideas are heard. ■ Members feel free to criticise and say what they think but this is done in a positive, constructive manner. ■ The group learns from experience: reviewing and improving performance in the light of both successes and failures.